Shreya Agrawal pips Elavenil to win 10m rifle Olympics trial

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 16

Young and upcoming rifle shooter Shreya Agrawal upstaged many of her more accomplished rivals, including Olympian Apurvi Chandela, to win the Olympics Team Selection trials in the 10m air rifle event. Shreya, who had won the bronze in the individual and mixed category in the Junior World Championships, shot a total of 631.2 points at the Karni Singh Shooting Ranges. Her score was 1.3 points better than the world No.1 Elavenil Valarivan who registered a total of 629.9. Olympics-bound Anjum Moudgil was a distant third after registering 626.9. Mehuli Ghosh 626.6 and Apurvi with 624.4 finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

There was no final held as there were only five competitors. The qualification score will be taken into account for the selection of the Olympics team.

Deepak Kumar won the men’s trial with a total of 631.1 points. He was followed by Pankaj with a score of 628.8, while Tushar Sahu Mane finished third by.3 points after having totalled 628.5 points. Sandeep Singh finished fourth with 627.7 while the quota-winner Divyansh Panwar finished fifth and last with an aggregate score of 626.1.

The women’s 25m pistol competition was won by Rahi Sarnobat who amassed 583 points after the completion of precision and rapid rounds. Chinki Yadav finished second with a total of 579 points, followed by Manu Bhaker (578 points).

Angad leads

On Day 1 of the skeet trials, Angad Vir Singh Bajwa shot down 74 targets to lead Gurjoat Singh by one point. Amrinder Singh Cheema was third on 72, followed by Mairaj Ahmad Khan who broke down 71 targets. In the women’s category, Darshna Rathore was the early leader with a score of 69. Areeba (68), Ganemat Sekhon (66) and Jasmeen (65) were bunched in together after three rounds.

It was neck-and-neck in the trap ranges as both Kynan Chenai and Prithviraj Tondaiman finished the day on identical score of 71. Manavditya Rathore was second with a score of 70, while Janghser Singh Virk (68) and Manavjit Singh Sandhu (66) were fourth and fifth, respectively.

In the women’s section, Shreyasi Singh (69) was four shots clear of her nearest rival Kirti Gupta who shot 64 after the first three rounds. Olympian Seema Tomar was third with a total of 63, while Rajeshwari Kumari was fourth with a total of 62.